merit,-degrade the Creator to a level with his creatures, and present the several relations of the Christian life in a light disgusting to every intelligent person. Like artificial food, they create an appetite which cannot be satisfied, and leave the mind in a state but poorly prepared for the simple melody of rational music, or for the plain and strong exhibitions of religious truth. Perhaps the best criterion of the value of a hymn, is its capacity to interest and gratify us, after numerous repetitions, and in circumstances, where, free from the excitement of outward influences, there is nothing to attract us, beyond the simple beauty and charm of the piece. Does its repeated use increase our attachment to it; or, when the casual excitement is past, do we turn from it with loathing? We presume to say, that a Christian was never weary with singing the hymn,

These hymns have been sung by us, it may be, an hundred times; and yet they awaken the same ennobling views of our Creator, the same love of holiness and the fear of God, the same delight in Christian fellowship, that they did the first day we saw them. We drink into the spirit of them without satiety. They are like a rich fountain, whose refreshing waters spring up to meet us as often as we return to them. We always enjoy them. We feel that they will fall with sweet melody upon our ears, down to the hour in which the music of earth is lost in the songs of heaven, and Christian fellowship in this world is exchanged for the fellowship of the redeemed in glory.

We cannot forbear to express our pleasure, that strict attention has been given to this particular, in the collection before us. We believe the hymns which it contains all have an intrinsic, and, therefore, a permanent value. Had it been otherwise, we could not have felt that confidence we now feel in the permanent success of the book.

A great amount of labor has obviously been bestowed upon the Psalmist, in corrections and improvements, which, though they may seem to be of minor importance, have greatly enhanced the value of the book. A line or sentence was defective in some very excellent hymns. These have been stricken out, and words and syllables more appropriate and correct have been substituted. For illustration; in

hymn 994, verse 4, which formerly read,—

"Thy hand in autumn richly pours
Through all our coasts abundant stores;
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more a face of horror wear,"

the last line now stands,

"No more a dreary aspect wear."

Hymn 927, verse 1, formerly read,

It now reads,

“Arise, O King of grace, arise,
And enter to thy rest;

Lo! thy church waits, with longing eyes,
Thus to be owned and blessed."

In some instances, the number is changed from the singular to the plural, which renders the hymns more appropriate to be sung by an assembly of persons. Numerous corrections have been made in the use of epithets; as, "O Lord," for "Dear Lord;" "Blest Saviour," for "Dear Jesus." Words difficult to be sung, have been changed for others of a more correct and easy accent. Such alterations cannot be regarded as unwarrantable. We think no candid person will be displeased with any changes made by the editors of the Psalmist. Every alteration we have noticed, is, we think, a manifest improvement.

As a specimen of book-manufacturing, the Psalmist is deserving of great praise. It is printed with beautiful type, on clear, white paper, is strongly bound, opens easily, and may be read with comfort by old and young. The edition already published, is to be followed by one in smaller size for the pocket, and by another, in larger, for the pulpit.

Nearly simultaneous with the prospectus of a new hymn book, issued by the firm of Gould, Kendall and Lincoln, was a notice to the public from the committee of the "Am. Baptist Publication and Sunday School Society," of the intention of that Society to engage in a similar undertaking. We deem it fortunate, however, that the Publication Society waived the purpose of publishing a separate book; and that arrangements were made between them and the before-mentioned firm, to unite upon a joint publication of the "Psalmist." The result of this copartnership, we trust, will be, to give to the Psalmist the widest possible circulation. It would be not less gratifying than advantageous for the churches of this country, could they unite in adopting the same hymn book for public worship.

It is objected, that the habits and customs of the people in different sections of the country are so various, that it would be impossible that the same hymn book should meet the wants of all our churches; that there is a diversity of tastes, and hence a necessity for books corresponding to the same. But the objection, in point of fact, has, we think, little force. We cannot admit, that a hymn can be too pure and elevated for the taste of any Christian. A hymn, free from poetical blemishes, or doctrinal absurdities, is no more unfit for an uneducated than for an educated mind. It is almost an insult to affirm, that the truths of religion, whether embodied in prose or poetry, must be expressed in language common

place or vulgar, to adapt them to the taste and comprehension of any Christian.

The liturgy of the Episcopal church is as pure a specimen of composition as can be found in the English language. Every sentence of it wears a finished elegance, and yet an unsurpassed simplicity. Lives there a man, who would risk his reputation for soundness of mind, by affirming that a composition more gross in its structure, and less pure in its expression, would better suit the wants of the middling and lower classes of society? No. We suffer injury as Christians, every day, from this false notion of an arbitrary diversity of tastes. They who lead the public mind, can create a relish for the pure and the good, or for the opposite. It is to be regretted, that this office has fallen too often into the hands of men unequal to the task.

We see no good reason why a good hymn book should not be equally as good in one place as in another. And the better the book, the stronger the reason why it should be universally adopted. Our churches in this country are united by a special tie of Christian brotherhood. We have but one object in view,—but one end to accomplish. We ought ever to remember, that our strength and efficiency depend, so far as human instrumentalities are concerned, upon a harmony of views, and a uniformity of church order and polity. The laws, the discipline, and the ordinances of the church, should be one and the same in every place. We ought to feel ourselves at home among our brethren, every where. Local prejudices and sectional jealousies should never for a moment be indulged. It should be enough for us to know, that we still have a place and a name among those who hold to “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." And while, every where, we find the same Bible, how reasonable that we should find the same hymn book; the one, containing the same doctrines which elsewhere have been a light to our path, and the same promises which have comforted our souls,—the other, containing the same songs of praise, which, since our conversion, we have not ceased to sing in the great congregation.

It is no disparagement to the collections hitherto in use to say, that we have seen no book more deserving of this general introduction into all our churches than the Psalmist. The editors have accomplished a noble work, for which they deserve not only the thanks of our own churches, but of all lovers of true devotional psalmody.

ARTICLE VII.

DISCRIMINATING SERMONS.

Is the pulpit of the present age and of this country such as it was among the Non-Conformists, in Great Britain, in the period of Charles I, or in New England, in the time of the great revivals of 1735-1740? In other words, is the pulpit, in our hands, such as it was in the hands of Baxter, and Edwards, and men of kindred power and spirit? Has there been an improvement or a loss? If there be a difference, what is that difference? If there be a change, by what fruits is the advantage of the change attested? loss, what is it that has been lost?

These are questions of grave import. The interests of evangelical religion demand, that they should be fairly met and honestly answered. It seems to us, that there has been a loss; and that loss has affected our churches, our religious experiences, our consistency, our activity, our comfort, our usefulness. Our piety has not the visible strength, which, considering its nature, we should expect it to exhibit. We fear that many of our Christian graces have suffered diminution. The manner in which men are led in coming to Christ, and the manner in which they walk, after they have come to him, are not precisely such as we conceive them to have been, a century or a century and a half since. We are aware, that they are placed in different circumstances and under different influences. The early religious education which prevails in the community is unlike that which characterized some former periods. It is less exclusively parental and pastoral. It is more occupied with the scaffolds and the building of Christianity, than with the Christianity after it is built. It inquires how the Bible. teaches and illustrates certain truths, rather than what the truths, which it illustrates and teaches, are. The habits of life, too, are generally different from what they once were. Age and authority and station are less respected. Men have less interest in the theoretical, and more in the practical. The doctrinal foundation is less an object of importance with them, than the showy superstructure of action. When they

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